Ara Zobayan of Huntington Beach — the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in Calabasas on Sunday, killing nine people, including Zobayan and retired Lakers star Kobe Bryant — was an experienced flier and a certified flight instructor with more than 8,000 hours of flight time, sources said this week. National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said Monday that Zobayan, 50, had a commercial certificate and was a certified flight instructor who had 8,200 hours of flight time as of July. Zobayan was an instrument-certified pilot who earned his commercial license in 2007, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s pilot certification database. Zobayan was reliable and not known for risky flying, said Deetz, who knew him as “Big Z.”“He loved calling himself that,” Deetz told The Times. Flight student Darren Kemp told The Times that when he heard Bryant had died in a helicopter crash, his heart sank.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 28, 2020 20:30 UTC